In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist atrocities in the United States, we demand our government leaders ensure that justice be served by protecting civilians of all countries throughout the world from war crimes and terrorist assault. The prosecution of political and military leaders accused of crimes against humanity is integral to the international struggle for peace and justice. But when our government applies a double standard to war crimes, selectively discriminating between terrorist acts committed by friends and foes, it undermines the universality of our most basic human rights.

A case in point is Canada’s silence about Israel’s prime minister, General Sharon, whose record of terrorist assaults on civilians extends over five decades, and whose culpability for war crimes in the summer of 1982 are widely acknowledged even within Israel. Serving as defence minister, Sharon used the pretext of an assassination attempt in London on the Israeli ambassador by a murky Palestinian terrorist group to launch a war against the Palestinian people in Lebanon....

“We find it appalling that the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver is sponsoring an appearance by Alan Dershowitz, who is an outright apologist for anything and everything that the State of Israel does, to open its annual fund-raising campaign,” says Bob Rosen, spokesperson for the Vancouver chapter of CanPalNet, a Palestinian solidarity organization.

“Dershowitz played a central role in the campaign to get Norman Finkelstein dismissed from the faculty of DePaul University because Finkelstein criticized Israeli behaviour and their treatment of Palestinians,” explained Stephen Aberle, a spokesperson for Jews for a Just Peace.

“We would like to ask those who are supporting Mr. Dershowitz by attending his appearance in Vancouver whether they support his efforts to muzzle academic criticism of Israeli policies, and if so, why?” continued Carl Rosenberg, spokesperson for Independent Jewish Voices. “We think that it sets a dangerous precedent when academics are dismissed because of their political positions.”